Kickin' sand around the pit
To be perfectly honest, I almost forgot we have an Arena Football League team.
When the AFL shut down and issued an announcement that they were going to take time off to re-organize and come back better than ever, I figured it was kind of like when a restaurant closes because they're "remodeling." Chances are 50-50, at best, that they ever open their doors again.
But against heavy odds and with a significantly lower profile, Arena Football is back.
Well, "back" isn't exactly accurate, is it?
The old Arena Football League withered and died, sunk by teams folding and heavy debt leading to bankruptcy. So what you see now is a new entity operating under the old AFL flag with many familiar elements, such as the Tampa Bay Storm (the last of the original four AFL franchises to still exist), the AFL's equivalent of the NHL's Montreal Canadiens. So maybe it's more accurate to say that Arena Football is here again.
And here again in the Arena Bowl, for the 7th time (5-1), are the Tampa Bay Storm.
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Edited by Alfie Crow
Alfie is the Manager of SB Nation's Jaguars blog, Big Cat Country and the Editor-In-Chief of SB Nation Tampa Bay, covering all of Florida sports as well as an SBNation.com contributor. As a Jacksonville resident, Alfie grew up a Jacksonville Jaguars fan, being a teenager when the city was... See my profile
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Technically
The Tampa Bay Storm are a relocated version of an original four AFL Franchise. I forgot who they were.
Whatever the case, it was a neat sport when I was in middle school and high school… But it’s lost my interest. I love the name Tampa Bay Storm and their legacy… But I’ve moved away from the game.
"Seen Cincuenta" -- 04.10.10 -- Raw Charge.
by John Fontana on Aug 17, 2010 3:33 PM EDT reply actions
Before the Storm...
…there was the Pittsburgh Gladiators. The rest of the “Original Four”: Washington Commandos, Chicago Bruisers and Denver Dynamite.
Love it, like it, hate it or couldn’t care less about it, you have to admit it takes real guts to launch a new professional sports league in this day, age and economy, and something more than that to do it with a brand that already failed once. But they made it through a whole season. That’s a lot farther than I thought they’d get with it.
by Clark Brooks on Aug 17, 2010 6:07 PM EDT up reply actions
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